Apple's behaviour in this, and other decisions is indicative of their growing corporate giant attitude. Long gone are the days of loveable underdog. They are well on the journey of faceless money machine. They could quite easily spend the tiniest portion of their gargantuan money surplus (that we've all contributed to - significantly in my case) and enable iCloud support for L and SL users, rather than FORCE us to upgrade OS. I have contributed as a mobileme subscriber and a .mac subscriber before for many years and this change is, at the very least, inconveniet. At worst, it's an insult to a once loyal supporter.

In view of all the recent problems with iCloud (mail servers down, log-in failures despite correct Apple ID passwords, loss of contacts or documentation) I've actually found with time that I prefer the workarounds we've found for Snow Leopard. Even though many of us could potentially upgrade our systems to Lion or even Mountain Lion, we have learned to appreciate the faultless functionality of Snow Leopard along with its flexibility in allowing customization to meet personal preferences.

I probably could have lived with Apple's decision to force potential iCloud users to upgrade to Lion if it hadn't cut my battery life in half and constantly pegged my CPU (and temperatures) while running the simplest of tasks.

The best resolution to this dilemma would be an iCloud preference pane with 10.6.9 and I'm still hoping we'll see this release before the end of June. This would at least alleviate some of the loss for those forced to migrate their MobileMe accounts and provided free Snow Leopard installation discs. Purchase Lion (or a new system) to join the iCloud group? No thank you!

I am generally fed up with Apple disabling the hardware I bought from them. First it was the functionality of my original iphone gen 1, which now cannot sync calendars under MobileMe, and will lose other functionality with iCloud. Now my Snow Leopard Machines are lossing functionality too. Why are we losing functionality instead of gaining it??? iCloud is less functional than I need, and if I don't sign up for it, I can only retain email functionality. When will THAT disappear. I am not at all happy. This is the first time in 20 years that I have begun to see Apple as another IBM or SONY.

Since we know Apple does not read these posts, Apple Care Support people told me to write my opinions on FEEDBACK. They assured me Apple does read feebback but does not reply. I might copy/paste your post and my comments added.... Thanks for posting!

Perfectly articulates the situation I'm in with my wife's computer. Just a bit too old to install (the rather disappointing) Lion. Fine. But they they chose to make contacts/calendar/mail syncing become non-functional on her MacBook by the end of this month. What?

If she had a similar-era Windows laptop, she'd have no problem upgrading to iCloud. And she's less embracing of Macs than I am - if her next computer is a Windows machine, Apple's not getter her back. It just seems like a thoroughly insane business decision. There is no credible reason why iCloud could not run on Snow Leopard. Or Leopard. Or any frigging cat.

Reckless imperiousness is not a terribly sustainable business practice, no matter how many hundreds of billions of dollars your company is currently valued at.

barthold wrote:

I have a MacBook Pro with an Intel Core Duo processor and Snow Leopard. I cannot install Lion on the laptop. I have for now, and for the next coming year, no budget for a new Mac. A lot of money has been put, and will be, into the children and their studies. I cannot afford it now to buy a new Mac to have Lion and iCloud all over.

Should I make the transition of my MobileMe account to iCloud, to use it on my iPhone 3GS an iPad [1], then that will have the consequence that I will not be able any more to use the Mail app, and all its functionality, as far as it goes about the iCloud mail. It will not be synchronised. Will it still be available through the Mail app in some way? Or do I have to use the web interface on my Mac, for mail on icloud.com? Imagine that!

My God, first this Lion disappointment. Now this iCloud frustration. What I cannot understand, is why this is not possible for Snow Leopard? Working with the cloud, does that have so much restrictions? Or is it iCloud that makes this impossible? Or is it just plain gore catching money?

For the first time as a long time Apple user I'm looking around now for other solutions. It was goodbye, Steve. We will miss you. But it will become: goodbye, Apple, we will not miss you.

Perfectly articulates the situation I'm in with my wife's computer. Just a bit too old to install (the rather disappointing) Lion. Fine. But they they chose to make contacts/calendar/mail syncing become non-functional on her MacBook by the end of this month. What?

If she had a similar-era Windows laptop, she'd have no problem upgrading to iCloud. And she's less embracing of Macs than I am - if her next computer is a Windows machine, Apple's not getter her back. It just seems like a thoroughly insane business decision. There is no credible reason why iCloud could not run on Snow Leopard. Or Leopard. Or any frigging cat.

Reckless imperiousness is not a terribly sustainable business practice, no matter how many hundreds of billions of dollars your company is currently valued at.

barthold wrote:

I have a MacBook Pro with an Intel Core Duo processor and Snow Leopard. I cannot install Lion on the laptop. I have for now, and for the next coming year, no budget for a new Mac. A lot of money has been put, and will be, into the children and their studies. I cannot afford it now to buy a new Mac to have Lion and iCloud all over.

Should I make the transition of my MobileMe account to iCloud, to use it on my iPhone 3GS an iPad [1], then that will have the consequence that I will not be able any more to use the Mail app, and all its functionality, as far as it goes about the iCloud mail. It will not be synchronised. Will it still be available through the Mail app in some way? Or do I have to use the web interface on my Mac, for mail on icloud.com? Imagine that!

My God, first this Lion disappointment. Now this iCloud frustration. What I cannot understand, is why this is not possible for Snow Leopard? Working with the cloud, does that have so much restrictions? Or is it iCloud that makes this impossible? Or is it just plain gore catching money?

For the first time as a long time Apple user I'm looking around now for other solutions. It was goodbye, Steve. We will miss you. But it will become: goodbye, Apple, we will not miss you.

I write to complain vehemently about the loss of services with the transition to iCloud and scrapping of mobileme. You will be well aware that these decisions force owners to make upgrades or face losing functionality. I myself do not want to move from Snow Leopard on my machines for a number of reasons and I should be allowed to do that without penalty. Check my product history - you've had some reasonable money from me and I've tried to be loyal and supportive. You're making it difficult. These are your claims: "Apple strives to bring the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings." Ask yourself if you're striving enough. If you're looking for something on which to spend a tiny chip of your massive money surplus, then update older OS's to support iCloud properly or maintain mobileme.

I have too much invested in the Apple ecosystem to simply dump it over this ridiculous problem. I assume this is what Apple is counting on. Since the iPad and iPhone are the main focus of Apple these days, losing a few customers from the Mac platform seems like acceptable losses to them. Theoretically you don't need a Mac if you are already using an iPad or iPhone, as they will both sync with outlook and other Windows services.

My solution was to buy a used Mid-2009 MacBook off eBay to replace my current 2006 core-duo MacBook (which has years of life left in it). So Apple did not see a DIME of this purchase. And after 6 years, the $400 price tag was an acceptable upgrade, though I'm hard pressed to see a significant difference in functionality over its orphaned predecessor. And the used Mac is still covered by Apple Care.

Now, I could have bought a used 2006 Core Duo for a little less, which is technically all that is required to run Lion. However, Mountain Lion is coming out shortly and I wanted to make sure I had complete compatibility for at least another year -- If Apple end up adding the defunct Gallery functionality back to iCloud, I can definitely see them requiring Mountain Lion. So the minimum MacBook compatibility for Mountain line is the late 2008 failed aluminum unibody experiment, which does not have a Firewire port. If you don't need one then that is probably the most practical upgrade, since it does not command as much thanks to that deficiency.

Unfortunately, in upgrading to Lion I lost compatibility with a number of expensive software packages. So for only an additional $400, I now have two Macs, one capable of running all my old software and thus saving me hundreds of dollars in new license fees, and one capable of synchronizing all of my iOS devices. And the new Mac is in better condition than my own, with a fresher battery. It's unfortunate Apple is dropping iDisk, as it would make it so much easier to share files with the Lion MacBook. But third party sharing solutions make it easy enough to keep my documents available on any device. This allows me to upgrade to newer software on my own terms, and not Apple's arbitrary deadlines.

Would I have preferred to not pay $400 at all? Yes. Would I have preferred to keep all of my software on the same Mac? Yes. But there is no use complaining about this anymore. Apple is not going to support iCloud under Snow Leopard and Mountain Lion is already leaving behind a whole new crop of recent Macs. It's clear where Apple's priorities lie, and it's not catering to those of us from whom they have already received our money. But I sure as heck don't have to buy into their marketing strategy. Apple makes great products and a 3 year old Mac does just as good a job as a brand new Mac, and I have the satisfaction of not giving any more of my money to Apple to accommodate their seemingly arbitrary abandonment of perfectly good Macs for their current services.

I can't imagine switching to another platform. Best of luck to those of you who can, but I add my voice to suggest there is more than one way to skin this particular cat.

I think those version have problems needing Rosetta. In any event, including your accounting software, consider using Snow Leopard (and Rosetta) in Parallels 7 in Lion as an additional backup to your purchase of a used 2009 Mac:

My solution was to buy a used Mid-2009 MacBook off eBay to replace my current 2006 core-duo MacBook (which has years of life left in it).

Until the day that you turned it on and it was a complete wipe-out, which given its pedigree, would happen sooner than later. A late-2006 MacBook had a good life through mid-2012.

I used to squeeze every last day out of my Macs and very successfully, too! Coincidentally with the movement of manufacturing to China, I find them less reliable in the long run and I purchase AppleCare even for my Desktops, too!

So Apple did not see a DIME of this purchase. And after 6 years, the $400 price tag was an acceptable upgrade, though I'm hard pressed to see a significant difference in functionality over its orphaned predecessor. And the used Mac is still covered by Apple Care.

That is statistically not true. The fact that there is a market in used Macs increases the likelihood that current owners will upgrade to new hardware, having the ability to sell off their used models. Did the prior owner of yours do that? Who knows, but statistically they did...

Now, I could have bought a used 2006 Core Duo for a little less, which is technically all that is required to run Lion. However, Mountain Lion is coming out shortly and I wanted to make sure I had complete compatibility for at least another year -- If Apple end up adding the defunct Gallery functionality back to iCloud, I can definitely see them requiring Mountain Lion. So the minimum MacBook compatibility for Mountain line is the late 2008 failed aluminum unibody experiment, which does not have a Firewire port. If you don't need one then that is probably the most practical upgrade, since it does not command as much thanks to that deficiency.

My philosophy has always been buy the best hardware you can afford. New software always takes advantage of it, and you hobble your future if you buy backwards...

Unfortunately, in upgrading to Lion I lost compatibility with a number of expensive software packages. So for only an additional $400, I now have two Macs, one capable of running all my old software and thus saving me hundreds of dollars in new license fees, and one capable of synchronizing all of my iOS devices. And the new Mac is in better condition than my own, with a fresher battery. It's unfortunate Apple is dropping iDisk, as it would make it so much easier to share files with the Lion MacBook. But third party sharing solutions make it easy enough to keep my documents available on any device. This allows me to upgrade to newer software on my own terms, and not Apple's arbitrary deadlines.

It was unfortunate that the timing of introducing iCloud also coincided with Apple's loss of it license to continue Rosetta in new operating systems. It caused a crunch out of proportion to what we remember when OS X was introduced with the ability to continue to utilize OS 9 software in the Classic Environment; and then the loss of the Classic Environment with the introduction of the Intel platform.

However it is a real problem: since I replaced my dead iMac G5 with a mid-2011 Mac Mini last year, I have had to live with Lion. I did and continue to do so by using Snow Leopard (with Rosetta) installed into Parallels 7 concurrently in Lion. I share the successes of my approach with as many people as are willing to listen and I expect a rush of more inquiries, as we close in on June 30th.

Would I have preferred to not pay $400 at all? Yes. Would I have preferred to keep all of my software on the same Mac? Yes. But there is no use complaining about this anymore. Apple is not going to support iCloud under Snow Leopard and Mountain Lion is already leaving behind a whole new crop of recent Macs. It's clear where Apple's priorities lie, and it's not catering to those of us from whom they have already received our money. But I sure as heck don't have to buy into their marketing strategy. Apple makes great products and a 3 year old Mac does just as good a job as a brand new Mac, and I have the satisfaction of not giving any more of my money to Apple to accommodate their seemingly arbitrary abandonment of perfectly good Macs for their current services.

I can't imagine switching to another platform. Best of luck to those of you who can, but I add my voice to suggest there is more than one way to skin this particular cat.

This is not new; this has happened many times in the past. I keep a functioning Powerbook 1400c and an Apple //c just in case...

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